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The trail of the serpent

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Set in 1942 in the Dutch Indies during WWII when Japanese forces overran the Dutch colonial empire, thus ending three centuries of rule in Indonesia. The stunned colonists of the island of Borneo have only once chance to escape...to reach the sea and hope a friendly passing vessel picks them up. For the fifty-odd survivors of the trek across the mountains, their savior appears in the form of an atheist midget who is Captain Krasser of the Henny, a WWI salvage vessel. Captain Krasser agrees to take the starving people on board on one condition: that the clergymen and nuns amongst them swear an oath forsaking their beliefs and admitting hypocrisy. Only Sister Ursula refuses and despite her critical condition is banned to the foredeck, isolated and ignored. The deathbed oath that Sister Ursula finally swears to Captain Krasser and the promise she elicits in return are the prime concerns of this riveting novel. The trip of the Henny, camouflaged as a floating island as it creeps along the coast and journeys across seas infested with enemy submarines, is a story that will not soon be forgotten.